Self Defense in Canada
September 11, 2023
For LGBT and other marginalized groups, understanding the rules of self-defense in Canada can be vital. That's why I looked into it.
Category: uncategorized
32 posts
Open Letter to UBC Leadership
November 18, 2021
On the eve of Trans Day of Remembrance, I asked UBC leadership to meet with me for a conversation on whether their policy on platforming hate propaganda has changed since they held space for transphobia in 2018. #TDOR
Trans Rights in BC: Some Interesting Case Law That Mattered
July 19, 2021
Here are historic cases that upheld Transgender rights in BC and Canada. These rights matter because they encompass the fundamental human right to live authentically and without discrimination.
Happy Coming Out Day
October 12, 2020
Today is Coming Out Day. On this day some of those of us who came out as who we are today and have the privilege of being able to speak about it publicly do so. I started telling people I might be transgender in 2011 after years of secrecy and shame over who I was. […]
Is that cis white female pedestal actually a cage?
June 15, 2020
Do you really propose a purity test for qualifying as woman enough, or middle class enough, or white enough, or safe enough?
Vancouver Rape Relief failure to meet Vancouver criteria for program funding shows pressing need to update approach
February 20, 2020
In 2019, the City renewed their funding with the warning that the organization's practices did not comply with eligibility criteria for program funding by the City of Vancouver. The city informed Vancouver Rape Relief that unless the organization took measures to meet the city's inclusion criteria for funding, 2020 funding would be denied. Next week, […]
Dear congregation, to hate is to sin…
February 4, 2020
The email below illustrates why we need to clamp down on groups accessing public funds through their charity status to incite discrimination and exclusion. Churches and groups named in this email are violating the terms of their charitable status. It was sent to people in Metro Vancouver inviting them to an event intended to help […]
Tell me, How will reducing Vancouver car traffic impact your life?
January 25, 2020
If you live in Vancouver, I'd love to hear what you think about this. Please comment here or use the contact form for a less public engagement. The media is reporting that the City of Vancouver is set to reduce Prior Street speed limits to 30km/h and reduce lanes to 1 in each direction starting […]
Schools need to address supremacist hate-motivated acts.
December 17, 2019
"… I hate [racist slur]. I hope all [racist slur] die. … I just want to line them all up and just chuck an explosive in there and go ka-boom! " Vancouver, B.C. student rant in an online video targeting Black students Too many Canadians are touched by hatred, and it feels awful. Acts of […]
Canadian Libraries And Universities Abdicating From Discrimination Responsibilities Enable It
October 31, 2019
On September 29, 2019, Self-identified feminist journalist Meghan Murphy gave a talk about her feelings regarding transgender women and feminism. It drew strong criticism across Canada and head-scratching abroad. Murphy's thesis is that transgender women are men because being transgender is "in fact" an impossibility and that transgender people put cisgender people at risk, with […]
Dear George, please check your sources.
August 19, 2019
Sometimes, you just have to answer a reader comment.
Course: governance 101. Grade: F. UBC has much to learn about following its own rules.
June 21, 2019
In recent months UBC asked to feature me as a success story for their engineering program. I am troubled by their conduct regarding anti-trandgender hatred on campus and I can not let UBC use my name as long as it cultivates hatred against marginalized communities or helps others do so.
Research shows less than 5% who medically transition detransition, not 80%
June 9, 2019
A 2006 study on transgender people showed that less than 1% of transgender people regret their decision and detransition. Another, more recent longitudinal study spanning 50 years from the 1960s to its recent publishing date found a 2.2% de-transition rate. ..so why the consistent messaging in politics and social media that over 80% of kids […]
There's always a second chance for reformed anti-trans activists
May 20, 2019
This is a message to the social conservative fringe of Canada. We all have the same rights, the same hopes, and the same fears. We are, in facts so much alike.
Meghan Murphy you are misleading your audience
April 23, 2019
When you claim denying a publicly-available service for women to trans women is justified or even legal in Canada you are lying.
Preying on children makes you a predator regardless of who you are
April 20, 2019
I have dreaded writing this article for the months I have considered it. My advisors recommend against it but I feel it is necessary. It is not with levity I use the word predator literally
Audio: Vancouver Rape Relief to be excluded for future contracts until it meets City of Vancouver eligibility criteria on inclusion
March 15, 2019
On March 13, 2019 the Vancouver City Finance and Programs Committee heard from speakers in favour of and opposed to a grant request by Vancouver Rape Relief. This is the audio of the speakers presentations. The city renewed the grant but listed the organization as ineligible for future funding.
Creatures From The Extreme-Right Lagoon
February 21, 2019
New-christian-white-supremacist-entity-on-the-block Resurrection Europa has Very Deep Concerns Indeed about anyone who they do not recognize as cisgender, heterosexual, Caucasian, and Christian.
I agree with Kari Simpson
January 31, 2019
Despite her debilitating "condition", Supreme-Court-Certified-Bigot Kari Simpson still needs to pee.
Episode 3.6 Dismantling the Patriarchy Has to be a Vocal Game with Clayre Sessoms
November 9, 2018
Originally posted on Secret Feminist Agenda: Content warning for discussions of sexual assault and transphobia. Like so many good things, this episode started one way and ended up another. I invited Clayre to chat about singing, and we ended up talking about community and harm and silence and what we do (or don't do) to feel…
Human Rights in Doc form
October 30, 2018
People are asking me about the advocacy that led to being honoured with the being awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the Governor General in the name of the Queen and all Canadians. These two short docs by award-winning filmmaker Christine Lord tell the story of the events between 2014 and 2016 that led to […]
Sex designation: The US explores the wrong path
October 23, 2018
While BC was focusing on our October 20 local elections, the news broke in the US that the Trump administration is seeking to define transgender people out of existence by defining sex as binary and immutable. This is not a good thing. In fact, it is deeply troubling. A recent New York Times article describes the contents […]
Teach hatred a lesson in irony…
October 10, 2018
A man has been wandering the streets of Vancouver since 6 October distributing flyers. There's no place for what he is writing and no excuse for him to be putting such homophobic and transphobic rants to paper and imposing them on innocent victims. First, I'd like to start by taking a moment to thank everybody […]
BOF: Anti-SOGI and Anti-Choice coelacanths converge
September 29, 2018
Birds of a feather are meeting up in Victoria rallies this weekend to oppose women having a right to access abortion and to force LGBTQ2+ kids back into the closet. If it was another month, I would be in Victoria addressing this hot mess from the 1950s that has no place in our inclusive and […]
Who's responsible? Speaking with parents about the fentanyl and homelessness crisis and its effect on crosstown elementary
September 18, 2018
As many people already know, I am running for Trustee of the Vancouver Board of Education in the 2018 municipal election. If elected, I will support initiatives prioritizing spending inside the classroom. I'll advocate for safe and inclusive neighbourhood schools so learners can receive an excellent, equitable education. I commit to engage with all stakeholders […]
When Love Wins — Discover
September 7, 2018
Sahitya Poonacha reacts to the Supreme Court of India’s landmark decision to decriminalize gay sex: “Society still has a long way to go, but now with the court on love’s side, it gives the confidence to the people who are afraid.” via When Love Wins — Discover
Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate
August 28, 2018
Jordan Peterson and Jared Brown's alarmist assertions [1] someone could face jail for using the wrong pronouns for somebody has a far simpler answer thanks to Ockham's razor and our laws: Just let the employee go. William of Ockham was a 14th century philosopher whose central principle was simplicity. Now known as “Ockham’s Razor”, it urges us to […]
Time for Barry Neufeld to go.
January 19, 2018
The Chilliwack School Board has officially asked Barry Neufeld to resign, finally. The trustees voted to act in-camera under mounting pressure after Neufeld initiated a bully campaign against President of the District Parent Advisory Council of Chilliwack Justine Hodge that resulted in the parent volunteer to be bombarded by hateful and threatening messages from […]
Don't trick the customer
December 17, 2017
Ken Zucker's Gender Identity Clinic was found to be out of step with modern practices, to listen too much to the desires of the parents over the needs of the child, to be inconsistent in the treatments of clients, to use criteria that raised alarm with the investigators, and to not seek the required consent of clients it used in its research. It was closed.
My question to the Chilliwack Board of Education
November 29, 2017
Tonight I was at the Chilliwack Board of Education's trustee meeting to ask a question seeking clarification about the individual personal commitment of each trustee to uphold the law of British Columbia. I came to Chilliwack and asked this question because in BC the curriculum is decided by the teachers and the Ministry of Education […]
Peterson's Petulance Problem
November 13, 2017
Jordan Peterson is burdened by the impossible oppression of actually having a job. It turns out that this is a cautionary tale. When his employer requested that he address all students in class with the requisite courtesy customary of students, even if some prefer the singular they, Peterson took profound exception and flipped a proverbial […]